This invention relates in general to full face vehicle wheels, and in particular to a full face wheel having a chemical bond between a full face wheel disc and a partial wheel rim.
It is known in the art to fabricate a two piece vehicle wheel by attaching a wheel disc to a separately formed wheel rim. Typically, the wheel disc is cast or forged from metal. The wheel rim is typically formed from a flat strip of metal which is rolled into a cylindrical hoop. The adjacent edges of the hoop are butt welded together to form a cylindrical preform. The preform is formed into a wheel rim by a metal forming process such as a spin forming process. The metal forming process forms inboard and outboard tire bead retaining flanges, inboard and outboard tire bead seats and a center deepwell into the preform. The resulting wheel rim is usually attached to the wheel disc by a welding process. Both the wheel disc and the wheel rim can be formed from alloys of the same lightweight metal, such as aluminum, magnesium or titanium, or, as a further cost reduction, a wheel disc formed from an alloy of a lightweight metal can be attached to a wheel rim rolled from steel.
To further improve the appearance of the vehicle wheel, the wheel disc can be formed to include the outboard tire bead retaining flange. The resulting wheel disc, which is called a full face wheel disc, is attached to the outboard end of a partial wheel rim. The attachment can occur at the outboard tire bead seat, the deepwell, or another location. The assembled vehicle wheel is often referred to as a full face wheel. When a tire is mounted on a full face wheel, the joint between the wheel disc and the wheel rim is completely hidden and only the wheel disc is visible. A decorative finish is often applied to the face of the wheel disc to further enhance the appearance of the wheel.
The partial wheel rim and the full face wheel disc are typically attached to one another by a continuous 360 degree weld around the perimeter of the wheel. The welding process is costly in terms of production and materials.
The present invention relates to a full face vehicle wheel comprising a full face wheel disc and a partial wheel rim. The wheel disc has an annular inboard portion. The wheel rim has an annular outboard end. A chemical bond is formed between the outboard end of the wheel rim and the inboard portion of the wheel disc to secure the wheel rim to the wheel disc. The chemical bond eliminates the need for a continuous 360 degree weld, and thereby reduces the costs of production and materials. The use of a chemical bond instead of welding eliminates the waste caused by scrapping wheels having welds that leak.
The invention also contemplates a process for fabricating a full face vehicle wheel. Initially, a full face wheel disc and a partial wheel rim are formed. The wheel disc has an annular inboard portion. The wheel rim has an annular outboard end. The wheel rim is assembled onto the wheel disc. A chemical bond is formed between the outboard end of the wheel rim and the inboard portion of the wheel disc to secure the wheel rim to the wheel disc.